Sr. Staff Autonomy Embedded Software Engineer

Rivian Rivian · Auto · Palo Alto, CA · Mechanical & Electrical Engineering

Sr. Staff Autonomy Embedded Software Engineer at Rivian responsible for the complete development cycle of embedded software for Radar sensing products, from application layer to low-level device drivers. Involves software prototypes, validation test cases, SDKs, and collaboration with HW/SW architects and cross-functional teams. Requires Master's/Doctorate in CS/Engineering, 8+ years of embedded software experience, strong C programming, and proficiency with embedded debugging tools.

What you'd actually do

  1. Architect, design, develop and deploy embedded software components for board bring-up, verification, and validation of automotive electronics.
  2. Develop SW stack on bare-metal, RTOS and Linux, from application layer to device drivers.
  3. Develop software stack with bootloader, PTP time sync, cybersecurity, and functional safety.
  4. Mentor and guide a team of Software Engineers to design, develop, and deploy embedded software for board bring-up, verification, and debugging of automotive electronics.
  5. Work with HW and SW architects to collaborate on next-gen platform architecture with various SoCs and the software stack, share plans/roadmaps, and align deliverables.

Skills

Required

  • Master’s or Doctorate degree in Computer Science/Engineering or related field
  • 8+ years of professional experience developing embedded software on microcontrollers
  • Strong programming skills in C for embedded systems
  • Solid understanding of RTOS fundamentals
  • Experience bringing up or configuring at least one RTOS‑based platform
  • Hands-on experience with board bring-up and low-level drivers for peripherals such as SPI, I2C, UART, CAN, Ethernet, GPIO, timers, ADC/DAC, and external memories
  • Proficiency with embedded debugging tools (JTAG/SWD, Lauterbach or similar, in‑circuit debuggers, flashing tools)
  • Proficiency with lab equipment (oscilloscope, logic analyzer, multimeter, power supplies)
  • Demonstrated ability to debug complex system issues end‑to‑end, spanning firmware, hardware, and interactions with test or application software
  • Proven track record of cross-functional collaboration and clear, concise technical communication

Nice to have

  • 1+ years of experience as a technical lead, leading software development teams
  • working knowledge of Python for tooling, scripting, or test automation
  • Experience with automotive ECUs
  • Platform/BSP development for MCU‑based ECUs, including clocking, BSP, and device configuration, Hardware abstraction layers
  • Experience with hardware components like sensors, gate drivers etc.

What the JD emphasized

  • 8+ years of professional experience developing embedded software on microcontrollers (automotive, industrial, or similar safety-/reliability‑critical domains)
  • Strong programming skills in C for embedded systems
  • Solid understanding of RTOS fundamentals
  • Hands-on experience with board bring-up and low-level drivers
  • Proficiency with embedded debugging tools
  • Demonstrated ability to debug complex system issues end‑to‑end, spanning firmware, hardware, and interactions with test or application software.